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The intrinsic markers of nanoscale morphological alteration in fixed tissue biopsy referred to as disorder strength and local correlation length, which can be easily and time-efficiently obtained from quantitative phase images, are introduced. After presenting how to extract these markers from quantitative phase images obtained by highly sensitive quantitative phase imaging system, spatial light interference microscopy (SLIM), we demonstrate the effectiveness of these markers for diagnosis of benign and malignant breast tissues.

The standard method for cancer diagnosis is the microscopic investigation of tissue biopsies. Because the tissues do not significantly absorb and scatter light, traditionally, the observation is performed using bright-field microscopy after staining. Although this approach has been widely adopted all over the world for 100 years, it generally takes a long preparation time and sometimes the early carcinogenesis is missed due to a variation in a quality of a staining. Quantitative phase imaging (QPI) can access objective information on thickness and refractive index changes from an unstained tissue slice, which cannot be observed by conventional microscopes. This can be an attractive advantage in the field of a medical diagnosis, especially since QPI can access the tissue architecture information with nanoscale sensitivity. In this paper, we used quantitative phase imaging to measure the tissue disorder strength, which is known as one of the effective markers of early carcinogenesis. We retrieved the disorder parameter from the local refractive index fluctuation map obtained by spatial light interference microscopy (SLIM). We show that SLIM imaging combined with the disorder analysis is a valuable approach for screening of benign and malignant breast tissue biopsies.

Quantitative phase imaging (QPI) can access quantitative information on thickness and/or refractive index changes of weakly absorbing and scattering objects, which normally require staining prior to observation. The quantitative phase image itself yields significant information for a medical diagnosis, particularly in cancer biopsies. Previously, several parameters such as a local standard deviation of refractive index have been utilized as a marker of diseases. We focus on the local spatial autocorrelation length, which is calculated at each point in the field of view. The local spatial autocorrelation length is defined as the standard deviation of the local spatial autocorrelation function and reveals the local and directional disorder information of tissues. However, generally, a direct calculation of the local spatial autocorrelation length take an immense amount of time. In this paper, we propose a high-throughput calculation procedure of a local spatial autocorrelation length, by exploiting frequency-domain calculations. After deriving a simple equation to calculate the local spatial autocorrelation length map in a short time, we perform label-free screening of benign and malignant breast tissue biopsies using this parameter as a marker.

Since the optical inter-satellite communication has attractive advantages such as high-speed transmission with high confidence, almost no electronic magnetic interference, and low power consumption, it has been activity investigated. However, directivity control of the laser beams requires a bulky and complicated system in satellite mobile communications. A more flexible and high accurate system with small and simple mechanism has been desired. In this study, we propose a new method of optical inter-satellite communication with a dynamically reconfigurable optical directional device in which diffraction gratings are automatically rewritten and reorganized in response of incident conditions by moving satellites. For realizing such a device, we have developed Sn2P2S6 crystals which have a high sensitive photorefractivity and dynamic reconfigurable property. Furthermore, this crystal has hundreds times faster response than conventional photorefractive materials such as BaTiO3. These features are extremely advantageous to construct a high-speed and flexible communication system with a large tolerance to displacement of moving satellites. To investigate the possibility of the dynamically reconfigurable optical inter-satellite communication system, we experimentally evaluate the temporal and spatial characteristics of Sn2P2S6 crystals for the variation of the beam incident angle. Moreover, the diffraction beam from the crystal has phase conjugate wavefronts of the beam entering from the counter direction. We try to utilize this behavior to suppress the beam spread and to reduce the background light such as sunlight with a spatial filtering technique that has sensitivity in wavefront differences of the signal and background light.

We develop a tunable optical wavelength filter with PR (photorefractive) materials applied the external field for achieving higher sensitivity and efficiency. In the past, the diffraction efficiency of the PR tunable filters with transmission gratings has been much lower than other conventional wavelength filters, such as the array wavelength gratings filter, the thin film filter, and the fiber Bragg gratings filter. By applying the external field to PR materials, we can obtain the refractive index modulation depth of 13 times larger than that without applied field, specifically in lithium niobate with the acceptor density of ~1022 [1/m3] and the voltage of 10 [kV/cm]. Our PR tunable filter provides reconfigurable wavelength routing of the signal beam since the various diffraction gratings can be immediately induced and multiplexed by changing incident conditions of two coherent writing beams viewpoint in comparing experimental results to numerical simulations, and can be rewritten dynamically through the PR effect. These advantages allow us to achieve more flexible optical net work based on the wavelength division multiplexing technique. In this work, we calculate the relationship between the diffraction efficiency and the magnitude of the applied external field by solving coupled wave equations in the case of lithium niobate, respectively.